Recognitions
Linda Coberly Selected as Honoree for Corporate Counsel’s 2019 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards
Recognitions
Linda Coberly Selected as Honoree for Corporate Counsel’s 2019 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards
August 20, 2019
Linda Coberly, Chicago Managing Partner & Chair of Winston’s Appellate & Critical Motions Practice, has been selected as an honoree for Corporate Counsel’s 2019 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards in the Innovative Leadership Category. These awards honor general counsel, in-house leaders, and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law.
Linda has been instrumental in this regard. She became actively involved in Winston’s affinity group for women immediately upon joining the firm, helping to organize the first firmwide conference for women attorneys and playing a key role in revamping the group into the present-day Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI). An area of focus for WLI is developing and promoting a next generation of firm leaders who bring diverse backgrounds and approaches and reflect the diverse world we serve.
A champion and creator of Winston’s 2016 Sponsorship Initiative pilot, Linda led a group that identified, cultivated, and supported sponsoree-sponsor relationships between high-performing women and diverse lawyers and senior partners invested in their sponsorees’ long-term success.
In collaboration with other firm leaders and the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance, Linda played a key role in creating and implementing Winston’s gender-neutral parental leave program, recognizing that both women and men want to play an active role in the lives of their kids—and that women do best in organizations where both women and men take parental leave.
Linda has been a leader in efforts to promote equity for women outside the firm as well. Working with activists across the state (and a team of Winston lawyers), she helped bring about Illinois’s historic ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). On May 7, 2018, Linda testified in support of ratification in Illinois, and on May 30, the Illinois House joined the Senate in voting to make Illinois the 37th state to ratify the ERA. With one more state needed to add the ERA to the U.S. Constitution, Linda (as chair of the national ERA Coalition’s Legal Task Force) and Winston (as the first law firm to join the ERA Coalition) are actively supporting ratification efforts in North Carolina, Virginia, and elsewhere.
View Linda's Women, Influence & Power in Law profile here.
To learn more about Winston’s commitment to women and equality, visit the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion page.